The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci — Complete by da Vinci Leonardo
7. _Citta de Calindra (Chalindra)_. The position of this city is so
179 words | Chapter 41
exactly determined, between the valley of the Euphrates and the
Taurus range that it ought to be possible to identify it. But it can
hardly be the same as the sea port of Cilicia with a somewhat
similar name Celenderis, Kelandria, Celendria, Kilindria, now the
Turkish Gulnar. In two Catalonian Portulans in the Bibliotheque
Natio- nale in Paris-one dating from the XV'h century, by Wilhelm
von Soler, the other by Olivez de Majorca, in l584-I find this place
called Calandra. But Leonardo's Calindra must certainly have lain
more to the North West, probably somewhere in Kurdistan. The fact
that the geographical position is so care- fully determined by
Leonardo seems to prove that it was a place of no great importance
and little known. It is singular that the words first written in 1.
8 were divisa dal lago (Lake Van?), altered afterwards to
dall'Eitfrates.
Nostri confini, and in 1. 6 proposito nostro. These refer to the
frontier and to the affairs of the Mamelook Sultan, Lines 65 and 66
throw some light on the purpose of Leonardo's mission.
Reading Tips
Use arrow keys to navigate
Press 'N' for next chapter
Press 'P' for previous chapter